Abstract
Information about the large-scale zooplankton distribution in the Nansen Basin, that part of the Arctic Ocean most directly influenced by the inflow of Atlantic Water, is still scarce. During the “Polarstern” expedition ARK IV/3 in July/August 1987 zooplankton from the upper 500 m was sampled along two transects across the western Nansen Basin. Spatial variations in faunal composition, abundance, and biomass are described. Special emphasis is given to the distribution patterns and possible drifting routes of species advected into the Arctic Ocean through Fram Strait. Forty-five species and eight taxa not determined to species level were identified. Copepods clearly dominate in terms of species number, abundance, and biomass. Ostracods and chaetognaths comprise the most important groups of the non-copepod zooplankton. Maximum species numbers were recorded over the abyssal plain around 83°N. Total abundance and biomass decreased by more than 80% towards the northern part of the basin. Cluster analysis revealed two major faunal assemblages, broadly overlapping over the central Nansen Basin, and three principal types of spatial distribution. The well-defined zonation observed in the large-scale zooplankton distribution closely resembles the major hydrographic and topographic features. The opposite movement of the Polar Surface Water and the Atlantic Water in the southern Nansen Basin might cause pronounced deviations between the drifting routes of species with different water mass preferences advected through Fram Strait.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aagaard K (1982) Inflow from the Atlantic Ocean to the Polar Basin. In: Rey L (ed) The Arctic Ocean. Wiley and Sons, New York, pp 69–81
Aagaard K (1988) Arctic circulation and physical oceanography. In: Alaska OCS Region 1987 Arctic Information Transfer Meeting Conference Proceedings. OCS Rep US Miner Manage Serv, pp 25–30
Aagaard K (1989) A synthesis of the Arctic Ocean circulation. Rapp P-v Réun Cons int Explor Mer 188:11–22
Aagaard K, Greisman P (1975) Toward new mass and heat budgets for the Arctic Ocean. J Geophys Res 80, 27:3821–3827
Alvariño A (1965) Chaetognaths. Mar Biol Ann Rev 3:115–194
Anderson LG, Jones EP, Koltermann K, Schlosser P, Swift JH, Wallace DWR (1989) The first oceanographie section across the Nansen Basin in the Arctic Ocean. Deep-Sea Res 36:475–482
Anderson LG, Dyrssen D, Jones P (1990) An assessment of the transport of atmospheric CO2 into the Arctic Ocean. J Geophys Res 95, C2:1703–1711
Anderson LG, Beaupre M-C, Björk G, Dahlberg B-M, Ekwurzel B, Hingston M, Holby O, Jones EP, Kattner G, Koltermann KP, Liljeblad B, Lindegren R, Olsson K, Rudels B, Skoog A, Zemlyak F (1991) Oceanography and Marine Chemistry. In: Anderson LG, Lönnroth Carlsson M (eds) International Arctic Ocean Expedition 1991 — Cruise Report. Swedish Polar Research Secretariat, pp 12–41
Båmstedt U (1974) Biochemical studies on the deep-water pelagic community of Korsfjorden, western Norway — Methodology and sample design. Sarsia 56:71–86
Bourke RH, Weigel AM, Paquette RG (1988) The westward turning branch of the West Spitsbergen Current. J Geophys Res 93, C11:14065–14077
Brodsky KA (1967) Calanoida of the far eastern seas and Polar Basin of the USSR. In: Pavlovskii EN (ed) Keys to the Fauna of the USSR No 35. Israel Progr Sci Transl, Jerusalem, pp 1–440
Brodsky KA, Pavshtiks YA (1977) Plankton of the central part of the Arctic Basin. Pol Geogr 1:143–161
Bückmann A (1970) Die Verbreitung der Kaltwasser- und der Warmwasserfauna der Appendicularien im nördlichen Nordatlantischen Ozean im Spätwinter und Spätsommer 1958. Mar Biol 5:35–56
Carmack EC (1990) Large-scale physical oceanography of polar oceans. In: Smith WO (ed) Polar Oceanography — Part A: Physical Science. Academic Press, San Diego, pp 171–222
Dunbar MJ (1964) Serial Atlas of the Marine Environment, Folio 6: Euphausids and pelagic amphipods. Am Geogr Soc, 8 plates, 2p
Dunbar MJ (1989) The Arctic Ocean as a biological environment. In: Rey L, Alexander V (eds) Proceedings of the sixth Conference of the Comité Artique International 1985. EJ Brill, Leiden, pp 35–47
Ekman S (1953) Zoogeography of the Sea. Sidgwick and Jackson, London, 417 p
Farran GP (1936) Report on the Copepoda. In: The Arctic plankton collected by the “Nautilus” Expedition. Part II. J. Linn Soc Lond Zool 39:404–410
Field JG, Clarke KR, Warwick RM (1982) A practical strategy for analysing multispecies distribution patterns. Mar Econ Prog Ser 8:37–52
Foldvik A, Aagaard K, Tørresen T (1988) On the velocity field of the East Greenland Current. Deep-Sea Res 35:1335–1354
Garstang W, Georgeson E (1936) The Arctic plankton of the “Nautilus” Expedition — Part III — Report on the appendicularians. J Linn Soc Lond Zool 39:411–412
Geiger SR (1966) Size variation in Metridia longa (Lubbock). In: Barnes H (ed) Contemporary Studies in Marine Science. Alien and Unwin, London, pp 335–341
Giguére LA, St-Pierre J-F, Berner B, Vézina A, Rondeau J-G (1989) Can we estimate the true weight of Zooplankton samples after chemical preservation. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 46:522–527
Grainger EH (1963) Copepods of the genus Calanus as indicators of eastern Canadian waters. In: Dunbar MJ (ed) Marine Distributions. Univ Toronto Press, pp 68–94
Grainger EH (1965) Zooplankton from the Arctic Ocean and adjacent Canadian waters. J Fish Res Bd Can 22:543–564
Grainger EH (1989) Vertical distribution of Zooplankton in the central Arctic Ocean. In: Rey L, Alexander V (eds) Proceedings of the sixth Conference of the Comité Artique International 1985. EJ Brill, Leiden, pp 48–60
Gray JS, Aschan M, Carr MR, Clarke KR, Green RH, Pearson TH, Rosenberg R, Warwick RM (1988) Analysis of community attributes of the benthic macrofauna of Frierfjord/Langesundfjord and in a mesocosm experiment. Mar Ecol Progr Ser 46:151–165
Grice GD (1962) Copepods collected by the nuclear submarine “Seadragon” on a cruise to and from the North Pole, with remarks on their geographic distribution. J Mar Res 20:97–109
Groendahl F, Hernroth L (1986) Vertical distribution of copepods in the Eurasian part of the Nansen Basin, Arctic Ocean. In: Schriever G, Schminke HK, Shih C-t (eds) Proc Sec Int Conf Copepoda Ottawa 1984. Syllogeus 58, pp 311–320
Hardy AC (1936) The Arctic plankton of the “Nautilus” Expedition — Part I — General Account. J Linn Soc Lond Zool 39:391–403
Hassel A (1986) Seasonal changes in Zooplankton composition in the Barents Sea, with special attention to Calanus spp. (Copepoda). J Plankt Res 8:329–339
Hirche H-J, Mumm N (1992) Distribution of dominant copepods in the Nansen Basin, Arctic Ocean, in summer. Deep-Sea Res 39:S485-S505
Hirche H-J, Baumann MEM, Kattner G, Gradinger R (1991) Plankton distribution and the impact of copepod grazing on primary production in Fram Strait, Greenland Sea. J Mar Systems 2:477–494
Hopkins TL (1969a) Zooplankton biomass related to hydrography along the drift track of Arlis II in the Arctic Basin and the East Greenland Current. J Fish Res Bd Can 26:305–310
Hopkins TL (1969b) Zooplankton standing crop in the Arctic Basin. Limnol Oceanogr 14:80–85
Hunkins K, Withehead JA (1992) Laboratory simulation of exchange through Fram Strait. J Geophys Res 97, C7:11299–11321
Johannessen OM, Johannessen JA, Svendsen E, Shuchman R, Manley T, Campbell WJ, Josberger EG, Sandven S, Gascard JC, Olausen T, Davidson K, van Leer J (1987) Mesoscale eddies in the Fram Strait marginal ice zone during the 1983 and 1984 Marginal Ice Zone Experiments. J Geophys Res 92, C7:6754–6772
Kosobokova KN (1982) Composition and distribution of the biomass of Zooplankton in the central Arctic Basin. Oceanology 22:744–750
Livingston HD, Kupferman SL, Bowen VT, Moore RM (1984) Vertical profile of artificial radionuclide concentrations in the central Arctic Ocean. Geochim cosmochim Acta 48:2195–2203
Longhurst AR, Sameoto D, Herman A (1984) Vertical distribution of Arctic zooplankton in summer: eastern Canadian archipelago. J Plankt Res 6:137–168
Markhaseva YL (1984) Aetideidae copepods (Copepoda, Calanoida) of the eastern sector of the central Arctic Basin. Oceanology 24:391–393
Minoda T (1967) Seasonal distribution of Copepoda in the Arctic Ocean from June to December, 1964. Rec Oceanogr Wks Jap 9:161–172
Mohr JL, Geiger SR (1962): Comparison of results from a new automatic plankton sampler and from conventional methods in the Arctic Basin. Rapp P-v Réun Cons int Explor Mer 153:205–206
Morison J (1991) Seasonal variations in the West Spitsbergen Current estimated from bottom pressure measurements. J Geophys Res 96, C10:18381–18395
Mullin MM (1969) Production of zooplankton in the ocean: the present status and problems. Oceanogr Mar Biol Ann Rev 7:293–314
Muench RD, McPhee MG, Paulson CA, Morison JH (1992): Winter oceanographic conditions in the Fram Strait — Yermak Plateau region. J Geophys Res 97, C3:3469–3483
Mumm N (1991) Zur sommerlichen Verteilung des Mesozooplanktons im Nansen-Becken, Nordpolarmeer. Ber Polarforsch 92:1–146
Perkin RG, Lewis EL (1984) Mixing in the West Spitsbergen Current. J Phys Oceanogr 14:1315–1325
Sameoto DD (1987) Vertical distribution and ecological significance of chaetognaths in the Arctic environment of Baffin Bay. Polar Biol 7:317–328
Sands NJ (1980) Ecological studies on the deep-water community of Korsfjorden, western Norway — population dynamics of chaetognaths from 1971–1974. Sarsia 65:1–12
Sars GO (1905) Crustacea. In: Nansen F (ed) Norwegian North Polar Expedition 1893–1896, Scientific Results. F Nansen Fund, London, vol I/5, pp 1–141
Smith SL, Schnack-Schiel SB (1990) Polar Zooplankton. In: Smith WO (ed) Polar Oceanography — Part B: Chemistry, Biology, and Geology. Academic Press, San Diego, pp 527–598
Smith SL, Smith WO, Codispoti LA, Wilson DL (1985) Biological observations in the marginal ice zone of the East Greenland Sea. J Mar Res 43:693–717
Tencati JR, Geiger SR (1968) Pelagic amphipods of the slope waters of Northeast Greenland. J Fish Res Bd Can 25:1637–1650
Thiede J (1988) Wissenschaftlicher Fahrtbericht der Arktis-Expedition ARK IV/3. Ber Polarforsch 43:1–237
Williams R, Robins DB (1982) Effects of preservation on wet weight, dry weight, nitrogen and carbon contents of Calanus helgolandicus (Crustacea: Copepoda). Mar Biol 71:271–281
Yashnov VA (1966) Water masses and plankton. 4. Calanus finmarchicus and Dimophyes arctica as indicators of Atlantic waters in the Polar Basin. Oceanology 6:404–412
Zenkevitch L (1963) Biology of the Seas of the USSR. Allen and Unwin, London, p 955
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Mumm, N. Composition and distribution of mesozooplankton in the Nansen Basin, Arctic Ocean, during summer. Polar Biol 13, 451–461 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00233136
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00233136